bostonxpat

Thought I would share this... I posted a thread last month asking for advice in replacing the striker bolts on my 86 gt. I got some very helpful responses and did the bolt changeout. I stated that essentially all the rattles in both doors were gone for $16 worth of parts. What I didn't mention (didn't realize at the time) was that after driving the car a few times the driver's door became harder and harder to open. I tried realigning the striker bolt around the original position of the one I had removed. That was my mistake. After close inspection of the passenger door striker bolt position (no problem with that side) I noticed two hash marks stamped in the metal around the base of where the bolt sits. Looking at the same area on the (stuck) driver's side I saw that the bolt was not even close to those two hash marks. Once I moved the striker bolt between the two hash marks the door opened easily from inside and out. By the way, after a conversation with a mechanic at the local Ford dealer who told me that the door latch must be worn out, I spent $46 on a new latch. Just before I was about to take the door apart to replace the latch, I realized there was a much simpler solution to the problem.

Project 5.GO!

Those latches are pretty tough. You'd have a hard time trying to find one in a junkyard that couldn't be cleaned, greased, and put back into service. I always just adjusted my striker bolts by feel. You can feel when the door doesnt catch right, or needs to be slammed too hard.

Bears GT

now go get you $46 back .

Five0hFox

I replaced the striker bolts on my 88 and after adjusting it around all that I can I still have to hit from the inside to get it to open. Sounds like I might need to pull my latch and clean it. Glad you posted this.

Project 5.GO!

You're in for a treat cleaning it out. Unless you can think of some chemical that will munch through old thick grease deposits better than easy off oven cleaner, you'll spend some time with it. LOL Make sure you grease all the surfaces on the inside, work all the latches and hinges around to make sure the grease gets in there. Don't use wd40 or anything like that, because it will dry out and the latch will get loud and clunky and start to stick again.